VISA BULLETIN APRIL 2018: MASSIVE PROGRESSIONS IN INDIA AND PHILIPPINES

The Department of State has just issued the April 2018 Visa Bulletin. This is the seventh Visa Bulletin of Fiscal Year 2018. This blog post analyzes this month's Visa Bulletin.

April 2018 Visa Bulletin
Table A: Final Action Dates -- Applications with these dates may be approved for their Green Card (Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment.

EB

Class

All Other

CHINA

INDIA

MEXICO

PHIL'PNES

EB-1

C

C

C

C

C

EB-2

C

01AUG14

22DEC08

C

C

EB-3

C

01JUN15

01FEB08

C

01JAN17

Table B: Dates for Filing -- The DOS may work on applications with these dates. But the Visa cannot be approved until the date is current per Table A.

EB

Class

All Other

CHINA

INDIA

MEXICO

PHIL'PNES

EB-1

C

C

C

C

C

EB-2

C

01FEB15

08FEB09

C

C

EB-3

C

01JAN16

01APR08

C

01JUL17

MU Law Analysis (all references are to Table A unless noted)

All Other: The EB-2 has been current for many years. The EB-3 is also current and is expected to remain current for the foreseeable future.

China (mainland-born): Both China EB-2 and EB-3 favorably progressed, each by more than 6 months in Table A. The China EB-3 remains more favorable than Chinese EB-2. The odd situation of China EB-3 progressing faster than China EB-2 will remain to be the case for the foreseeable future.
India: Although EB-2 barely moved, EB-3 leaped ahead one year! This is terrific news for Indian EB-3 cases. While we do not think that another one year movement is in the future, it would not surprise us if the progress holds because (a) the 2007 Visa Gate situation has now passed, and (b) the 2007-12 recession led to a smaller number of green card filings than would have otherwise been filed.

Mexico: Mirrors All Other in analysis.

Philippines: While our internal measures indicated last month that we should be optimistic that Phils EB-3 would continue to move forward, we did not expect just how positive the progression would be. Phils EB-3 is now at Jan 2017, which is only a 14 month retrogression. Great news indeed!__________Please read the Musillo Unkenholt Healthcare and Immigration Law Blog at www.musillo.com and www.ilw.com. You can also visit us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinknedIn.